mpsa 2009 - socio-political profile of quebec-based political bloggers
TRANSCRIPT
Structure of the presentation
1. Current state of the research;2. Overview of the Quebec blogosphere and its members;3. Rising profile of political blogs;4. Research objectives;5. Methodological considerations;6. Results;
Demographical analysis; Online political behavioural profile; Offline political behavioural profile.
7. Discussion.
Current state of the research
• Politically-oriented blogs: Publicly-available; Low-cost; Single or multi-authored (coproduction-oriented); Limited to no external editorial oversight; Publication of politically-oriented facts and
arguments; Ideologically-driven or partisan in nature; Content and human-interactive features.
• Growingly important source of information: 2006 Midterm U.S. Elections: 20% of Web users
got political news only, up from 9% in 2004;“One of the keys” to the rising “popularity of blog
reading
Sources; Sweetser and Kaye, 2008; Drezner and Farrell, 2008; Pirch, 2008; Rainie and Horrigan, 2006; Adamic and Glance, 2007;
Current state of the research
• Political blogosphere studied in several national contexts:
United States; Canada; Europe.
• Many research projects focused on “A-list bloggers”: High profile; Opinion leaders (influential):
Recipient of large numbers of inbound links;
Quoted by conventional media organizations;
Heavily trafficked “information hubs”.
Sources; Wallsten, 2005, 2007; Munger, 2008; McKenna, 2007; Xenos, 2008; Bar-Ilan, 2005; Perlmutter, 2008; Woodly, 2008.
Potentially unrepresentative and distorted characterization of the blogosphere
Current state of the research
• Different research methods and objectives: Quantitative (descriptive):
Content; Structure.
Qualitative: Political orientation of publications; Bloggers self-introduction techniques; Etc.
• Majority of politically-oriented blogs known as “filter”:• Heavy use of hyperlinks;• Emergence of “gated cybercommunities”
favouring “enclaved deliberations”; • Mapping the blogosphere.
Sources; Su, Wang et al., 2005, Hinduja and Patchin, 2009; Park, 2009; Trammell, 2007; Tremayne, 2005; Xenos, 2008; Veenstra, Sayre et al., 2007
• Previous research on the political blogosphere: Many wide-ranging studies, but few comprising
political dimensions: National; Local.
Few studies on the socio-political profile of political bloggers:
Study of the Swedish blogosphere (Kullin, 2006):
Study of the U.S. political blogosphere: Wallsten (2008); McKenna (2007); McKenna and Pole (2004).
Sources; Lenhart and Fox, 2006; Nardi, Schiano et al., 2004; Wallsten, 2008; McKenna and Pole, 2004; McKenna, 2007; Kullin, 2006.
Current state of the research
Most comprehensive
Quebec blogosphere and its participants
• Characterization of weblog research in Canada: Initial stages; Most studies focusing on English language blogs
in the United States; Few studies published on the Canadian context:
Overview of the structure of the Canadian political blogosphere (Braaten, 2005);
Canadian Parliamentary blogosphere (Small, 2008);
Influence of Canadian bloggers on the press (Chu, 2007);
Content analysis of Canadian political blogs (Koop and Jansen, 2007)
Sources; Braaten, 2005; Small, 2008; Chu, 2007; Koop and Jansen, 2007;; Trammell, Takowski et al., 2007
Quebec blogosphere and its participants
• Quebec is a Canadian province characterized by its specificities:
Cultural; Economic; Linguistic; Political.
• Potentially sharp distinctions with North American studies;
• Small size of the Quebec political blogosphere (representativeness of the sample);
• Few studies on the socio-political profile of bloggers;
Sources; Fournier, 2001, 2002; Rocher, 2002; Wallsten, 2005; Hinduja and Patchin, 2008; Qian and Scott, 2007; Schmidt, 2007
Estimated 125 Quebec-based political bloggers.
Quebec blogosphere and its participants
• Growing interest of Quebec-based Web users for the blogosphere:
Source; CEFRIO, 2008
Data 26% of Quebec-based Internet
users have read at least one blog; 8% have authored at least one
weblog
Rising profile of political blogs
• Growing levels of distrust of conventional media organizations;
Political coverage revolving around strategy-oriented news frames;
tendency to provide interpretative coverage of political news;
Content fuelling political distrust among the public.• Increasing reliance on Web-based communication channels
for political information and opinion: News credibility of the Web hard to evaluate.
• Rising importance of blogs: Publication platforms enabling audience
participation; Growing popularity; Etc.
Sources; Best and Kueger,2005; Sweetser and Kaid, 2008, Druckman, 2005; Jones, 2004; De Vreese and Elenbaas, 2008; Kushin, Yamamoto et al., 2009.
Research objectives
• Political and media environment increasingly turning to “gatewatching”-oriented processes;
• Research objectives: Provide a socio-demographical portrait of Quebec-
based political bloggers; Define their political preferences and interests.
• Research hypotheses: Emerging Quebec blogging community will
contain highly politically-engaged and sophisticated individuals;
Quebec-based political bloggers are more likely to be predominantly conservative.
Sources; Bowers and Stoller, 2005; Ackland, 2005; Kavanaugh and Patterson, 2001: 499; Polat, 2005: 451; Jackson and Lilleker, 2007: 245.
Methodological considerations
• Publicly-available secure online survey available from April 15th 2008 to May 1st 2008 inclusively;
• 58 questions unevenly distributed in seven sections of different sizes addressing specific themes;
• Constitution of the research sample was twofold: Selection of 22 A-list political bloggers; snowball technique used in a viral dissemination
approach for the information circulation of the survey:
Through A-list bloggers; Through conventional
media representatives (journalists).
Research sample 56 respondents; 73% of A-list bloggers; 71% recruited through the
viral procedure.
Results
• Socio-demographical profile of Quebec-based political bloggers:
Quebec-basedpolitical blogger
Data Men(84%); 18-35 years-old (54%); Completed university
degree(54%); Members of the active workforce
(54%); Annual income exceeding 25 000$
(CAN) (64%); French is the mother tongue
(92.7%).
Results
• Geographical distribution of Quebec-based political bloggers:
Québec (29%)
Quebec-basedpolitical blogger
Montréal (46%)
Results
• Political preferences of Quebec-based political bloggers:
Data 63% have left-leaning political views:
Progressivism; Socialism; Communism.
21.4% have right-leaning political views;
3.6% defined themselves as greens or ecologists.
The U.S. conservative blogging community was “two to three times as large” than its progressive counterpart in 2003.
Source; Bowers and Stoller, 2005.
Results
• Positions on issues specific to the Quebec political environment:
Data 66% support the project of the political
sovereignty of Quebec; 21.4% oppose the project of the
political sorereignty of Quebec; 13% did not answer the questions
Among the general public, the level of support varies between 39% and 54%.
Sources; Léger Marketing, 2008; Béland and Lecours, 2006.
Results
• Time spent online by Quebec-based political bloggers:
Time spent online Percetage of bloggers
Less than 15 hours online per week
32.7%
20 hours online per week 25.5%
25 hours online per week 10.9%
40 hours online per week 7.3%
Online socio-political behavioural profile
Results
• Years spent in the blogosphere by the respondents:
• Quebec-based political bloggers dedicate an average of de 23,16 hours to their blog(s) per week.
Online socio-political behavioural profile
Years spent in the blogosphere Percetage of bloggers
Less than one (1) year 16%
More than one (1) year 83%
More than three (3) years 34%
More than five (5) years 14%
Results
• Characterization of their publications:
Characteristics Percetage of bloggers
Majority of posts comprising politically-oriented information
77%
Partisan tone 50%
Focusing on provincial, regional or local political matters
68%
Focusing on international political matters
15%
Focusing on Canadian federal issues
5%
Online socio-political behavioural profile
• Presence of Quebec-based bloggers on social networking platforms:
Online socio-political behavioural profile
Results
Data67.9% of Quebec-based political bloggers
are usingWeb-based social networking services.
• Quebec-based political bloggers’ voting behaviour:
• Quebec population’s participation in the elections:
Offline socio-political behavioural profile
Results
2007 Quebec Provincial elections
2006 Canadian Federal elections
88% voted 84% voted
2007 Quebec Provincial elections
2006 Canadian Federal elections
88% voted 84% voted
• Quebec-based political bloggers’ political preferences during the 2007 Quebec Provincial election:
Offline socio-political behavioural profile
Results
Political party Level of support among bloggers
Liberal Party of Quebec 5.4%
Parti Québécois 35.7%
Action Démocratique 10.7%
Québec Solidaire 16.1%
Green Party of Quebec 5.4%
• Quebec-based political bloggers’ political preferences during the 2006 Canadian Federal election:
Offline socio-political behavioural profile
Results
Political party Level of support among bloggers
Liberal Party of Canada 1.8%
Bloc Québécois 41.1%
Conservative Party of Canada 12.5%
New Democratic Party 14.3%
• Here are elements to consider: Impact of the blogosphere on mainstream political
actors; Future of research:
Importance to consider specificities within the blogosphere:
Geographical concerns; Demographical characteristics of
bloggers; Etc.
Discussion
QUESTIONS